So closure comes, after much speculation and some huge moves, the transfer window has closed with an unbelievable final day.

Just two weeks ago Darren Bent moved from Sunderland to Aston Villa, a move at the time which many were questioning. He cost £18m plus and many thought this was a huge sum for someone who wasn’t even an England regular. What Bent has though is tons of goals, spread over 5 years. His record at Sunderland was great and therefore this transfer shouldn’t have raised so many doubts. Although he’s not an all-round forward by any sense he scores loads of goals and Villa have needed someone like to do that for years.
With Young/Albrighton one side and Downing the other Bent should have a field day. His goal against City being a prime example of his positional play and being ready to take any chance that may come his way. The deal also seemed great for Sunderland, they had sold a want away player for a much around double the fee they paid 18 months previously and Steve Bruce, a manager who has a history of bringing some great players in wherever he goes, could reinvest. He has since used the money to bring in Stephane Sessegnon (£6m) from PSG. Read more of this post

It was just last week Fabio Capello announced his new look England squad. Despite containing the likes of Ferdinand and Gerrard, superstars of the world game there was also space for the Championships top scorer Jay Bothroyd. The majority of the public are quick to disregard Championship players as not good enough to play international football at the top level. Whether this is correct or not I will leave for another day, however an interesting fact when looking at the squad is that high proportion of the squad selected to play France on Wednesday came though youth systems outside of the Premier League.

Players who have been on the scene for quite a while now such as; Green (Norwich), Jagielka (Sheffield United) and Lescott (Wolves) all made their mark on the Championship before signing for big Premier League clubs but it’s the resurgence of young players in the squad, that have come through lower league clubs that has been particularly eye catching. Smalling (Maidstone United), Walcott (Southampton), Ashley Young (Watford), Adam Johnson (Middlesborough), and Andy Carroll (Newcastle) all have played for, or have come through the youth set-up of clubs at a lower level than the Premier League.

With the top Premiership clubs now scouring the world for the next big stars, is it that they have forgotten about Britain, leaving the Championship clubs to bring through Britain’s young talent? take a peak